Hi musicdev, There are a couple issues I think need to be addressed with what youd described. First and foremost, $20/hr is considerably below the going rate for PHP work, especially for projects as large as the one you're talking about. I used to do freelance PHP work for about 5 years before I went to work for Microsoft, and when I originally started I was just charging about 20 bucks an hour as well. It proved to be a disaster. Contrary to what common sense might tell you, I've found that lower-budget clients always produce the most drama, are the most demanding, and least reliable when it comes to paying the invoices on-time. Furthermore, larger clients will generally ignore you in favor of developers who charge more, the mindset being that, if you're charging such a low amount, the quality of your work probably isn't that good. I did a lot better after I started charging $100/hr for my work. A *lot* better! This was after my research showed that PHP development firms generally charge a minimum of $80/hr for PHP work, and can go as high as $200/hr. So if you're going at $20/hr, the companies with deep pockets probably won't take you seriously, and the clients you do get will be the ones who want a ton of work done but don't have the budget available to make it worth your while. Those are the clients who will take advantage of you if you're not careful. With your specific dilemma, if you already quoted $20/hr then of course you should honor that. However, I would strongly suggest that you do *not* allow the client to determine the cost of the deliverables after the work has already been done. Nine times out of ten you will get taken advantage of, because the client knows you already did the work which means they have all the leverage. After all, ten cents on the dollar is better than zero, right? You don't want to put yourself in that situation. Instead, here's what I would suggest: Work with the client to determine a bare minimum of work that would need to be done for the "first phase." Based off the $20/hr you quoted, determine how many hours that will take and give them a quote. Then, develop a statement of work document (that both you and the client will have to sign) for that phase, outlining specifically what work will be done and break it up into deliverable pieces. Upon completion of each "chunk" of work, a percentage of the total quote will be due. This ensures that you get paid for your work and that the client receives the work s/he is paying for. It also breaks-up the payment schedule so that it's a bit easier on the client's budget. If the client runs out of money midway through or whatever, you simply suspend work until they get more funds and then resume where you left off. I've found this model to be the most successful on projects like this. I hope this helps. If you like, I'd be happy to email you a sample copy of the SOW/contract I've used with past clients. --Kris -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
